Mites?

[BeansTheDerp]

First off- No advice is better than incomplete, misleading or false information. We don't want any harm to come to snakes when owners need & ask for help.

Soaking a snake for about 20-25 minutes in luke-warm* water with only a drop** or 2 of Dawn or Ivory dish soap will drown many or most of the mites on them, but still may miss some since the snake's head isn't underwater (& shouldn't be!) A soaking snake must be constantly supervised, not only so their body remains submerged as much as possible, but so the snake doesn't drink any soapy water- it will cause digestive upset.

*Use a thermometer to make sure the water isn't too hot- remember that the right temperature for a snake will feel cool to us, since we're roughly 98.6* F- so if the water feels warm to us, it's too hot for your snake & could harm them. This (& also the lack of traction in bathwater) is often the reason that snakes appear to hate being bathed.

**Only a drop or 2 of mild soap is needed- it's only to break the surface tension of the water so the mites drown rather than float or swim.

Unfortunately, a snake that has readily observed mites will most likely need another method besides bathing to ensure the mites are forever gone. See post #4 below.

NEVER wipe a snake with oil of any kind- it causes future shed problems & isn't an effective way to get rid of mites. There's a reason you don't see this suggested often- it's a bad idea.

Yes thank you, I intended to return to my post and add to it and go into further detail but was in a rush. Guess you beat me to it.
And thanks for mentioning the oil thing, I will keep that in mind!